SharePoint Online Service Description
Microsoft SharePoint Online in Office 365 empowers people to share and work together, to inform and engage others across the company, to transform business processes, and to harness collective knowledge. In addition, SharePoint provides capabilities for organizations to protect and manage data and to build custom solutions. For a quick overview, see What is SharePoint?
To compare features across plans, see Compare Office 365 for Business plans.
For information about new features in SharePoint Online, see What's new in SharePoint Online.
For system requirements for Office 365, the monthly subscription-based service available for business, education, and government organizations, please see Office 365 system requirements.
Note: |
---|
An organization can deploy a hybrid SharePoint environment, which is composed of SharePoint Server 2013 or 2016, typically deployed on-premises, and SharePoint Online. To learn more, see Hybrid for SharePoint Server 2013 or Hybrid for SharePoint Server 2016. |
There are some limits to the SharePoint Online service managed by Microsoft, such as site collection quotas, file upload limits, and storage limits. For details, see SharePoint Online Limits.
To learn more about mobile support, see Use a mobile device to work with SharePoint Online sites.
Office 365 is available in a variety of plans to best meet the needs of your organization. For information about different plans, including standalone plan options and information on moving from one plan to another, see Office 365 Plan Options.
Each person who accesses SharePoint Online must be assigned to an Office 365 plan or SharePoint Online Plan 1 or SharePoint Online Plan 2 standalone service. However, a Firstline plan is not sold as a standalone offer, only as part of the Firstline subscription, such as SharePoint Online Firstline. Since Firstline workers can’t be administrators, tenants with Firstline workers require at least one Enterprise administrator to manage SharePoint. Firstline workers won’t see SharePoint navigation menus, so Firstline workers have to navigate to SharePoint sites directly by URL.
OneDrive for Business (formerly SkyDrive Pro) is personal online storage for a company’s employees. It’s the place where people can store, sync, and share their work files across multiple devices with ease and security. OneDrive for Business is included in SharePoint Online and can also be purchased as a standalone plan. The OneDrive for Business standalone option includes Office Online. To see which features are included in OneDrive for Business with Office Online, see the OneDrive for Business Service Description.
External users inherit the use rights of the SharePoint Online customer who is inviting them to collaborate. That is, if an organization purchases an E3 Enterprise plan and builds a site that uses enterprise features, the external user is granted rights to use and/or view the enterprise features within the site collection they are invited to. While external users can be invited as extended project members to perform a full range of actions on a site, they will not have the exact same capabilities as a full, paid, licensed member within your organization. Learn more about what external users can and can’t do.
Use the following table to determine whether a SharePoint feature is available in an Office 365 plan.
Developer features |
Office 365 Business |
SharePoint Online Plan 1 |
SharePoint Online Plan 2 |
Office 365 Enterprise E1 |
Office 365 Enterprise E3 Office 365 Enterprise E5 |
Office 365 Enterprise F1 |
SharePoint Server 2016 Standard |
SharePoint Server 2016 Enterprise |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes17 |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes16 |
Yes16 |
Yes16 |
Yes16 |
Yes16 |
Yes16 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes4 |
Yes4 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
IT Professional features |
Office 365 Business |
SharePoint Online Plan 1 |
SharePoint Online Plan 2 |
Office 365 Enterprise E1 |
Office 365 Enterprise E3 Office 365 Enterprise E5 |
Office 365 Enterprise F1 |
SharePoint Server 2016 Standard |
SharePoint Server 2016 Enterprise |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
No20 |
No |
No |
No |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Encryption in transit |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Yes8 |
Yes8 |
Yes8 |
Yes8 |
Yes8 |
Yes8 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
Yes |
|
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
Yes |
|
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
Yes |
|
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No4 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
SharePoint central administration center |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Content features |
Office 365 Business |
SharePoint Online Plan 1 |
SharePoint Online Plan 2 |
Office 365 Enterprise E1 |
Office 365 Enterprise E3 Office 365 Enterprise E5 |
Office 365 Enterprise F1 |
SharePoint Server 2016 Standard |
SharePoint Server 2016 Enterprise |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Auditing & Reporting (e.g., doc edits, policy edits, deletes) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes6 |
Yes6 |
Yes6 |
Yes6 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No6 |
No |
Yes6 |
No6 |
Yes6 |
No6 |
No |
Yes |
|
No6 |
No |
Yes6 |
No6 |
Yes6 |
No6 |
No |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes9 |
Yes9 |
Yes9 |
Configurable for extranet |
Configurable for extranet |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes9 |
Yes9 |
Yes9 |
No |
No |
|
No |
No |
Yes6 |
No |
Yes7 |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Yes1 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes1 |
Yes |
Yes2 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Hybrid Auditing |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes19 |
Yes |
Yes |
Hybrid Taxonomy and Content Types |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes19 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No3 |
No1 |
No1 |
No3 |
Yes |
No3, 4 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes15 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Office ProPlus |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Included |
Included |
Included |
Included |
Included |
Included |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
|
Insights features |
Office 365 Business |
SharePoint Online Plan 1 |
SharePoint Online Plan 2 |
Office 365 Enterprise E1 |
Office 365 Enterprise E3 Office 365 Enterprise E5 |
Office 365 Enterprise F1 |
SharePoint Server 2016 Standard |
SharePoint Server 2016 Enterprise |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Visio Online 18 |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Search features |
Office 365 Business |
SharePoint Online Plan 1 |
SharePoint Online Plan 2 |
Office 365 Enterprise E1 |
Office 365 Enterprise E3 Office 365 Enterprise E5 |
Office 365 Enterprise F1 |
SharePoint Server 2016 Standard |
SharePoint Server 2016 Enterprise |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Highlighted content (Web Part) |
Yes |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Intelligent search (Microsoft graph) |
Yes |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
People cards |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes5 |
Yes3 |
Yes3 |
Yes5 |
Yes5 |
Yes5 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Search Web Parts |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Sites features |
Office 365 Business |
SharePoint Online Plan 1 |
SharePoint Online Plan 2 |
Office 365 Enterprise E1 |
Office 365 Enterprise E3 Office 365 Enterprise E5 |
Office 365 Enterprise F1 |
SharePoint Server 2016 Standard |
SharePoint Server 2016 Enterprise |
Communication sites |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes13 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes13 |
Yes13 |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Document libraries |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Hub sites |
No21 |
No21 |
No21 |
No21 |
No21 |
No21 |
No |
No |
Hybrid App Launcher |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes19 |
Yes |
Yes |
Hybrid OneDrive for Business and Sites |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes19 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes10 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes10 |
Yes10 |
Yes10 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes11 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes11 |
Yes11 |
Yes11 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes12 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes12 |
Yes12 |
Yes12 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Site Feed (classic team site using SharePoint social) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yammer integration |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Add-Ons |
Office 365 Business |
SharePoint Online Plan 1 |
SharePoint Online Plan 2 |
Office 365 Enterprise E1 |
Office 365 Enterprise E3 Office 365 Enterprise E5 |
Office 365 Enterprise F1 |
SharePoint Server 2016 Standard |
SharePoint Server 2016 Enterprise |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes14 |
Yes14 |
Yes14 |
Yes14 |
Yes14 |
Yes14 |
No |
No |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Note: |
---|
1 To use folder sync, you must have Office 2013 or later (Standard or Professional edition) or an Office 365 subscription that includes Office applications. Office 365 Business Essentials, Office 365 Enterprise E1, and Office 365 Education plans do not include subscriptions to Office desktop applications. However, you can use folder sync if you have Office 2013 or later installed and subscribe to one of these plans. 2 Firstline workers have limited OneDrive for Business functionality. Firstline workers receive 2GB of storage and lack desktop sync capabilities. Firstline accounts do not include a OneDrive for Business Personal Site, so they do not benefit from a OneDrive for Business personal library with 1 TB or 5 TB of online storage. 3 Azure Information Protection is not included, but can be purchased as a separate add-on and will enable the supported Information Rights Management (IRM) features. Some Azure Information Protection features require a subscription to Office 365 ProPlus, which is not included with Office 365 Business Essentials, Office 365 Business Premium, Office 365 Enterprise E1, Office 365 Education, or Office 365 Enterprise F1. 4 Because Firstline workers can’t be administrators, tenants with Firstline workers need at least one Enterprise user to access the admin center. 5 SharePoint Online customers need to download and install the free Rank Model Tuning App to create and customize ranking models. 6 When you use eDiscovery features, the licensing requirement for a plan that permits that feature applies to all end users that are part of the eDiscovery action (Search, Hold, Export). 7 Authenticated SharePoint Online users can access private site collections with faceted navigation. 8 Some providers may be blocked in your country/region. 9 Sharing a document, library, or site by email with someone outside of your organization. Administrators do have the ability to turn it on, but will get a warning message indicating that it could make files shared accessible outside of your country. Users who attempt to share with someone outside of the organization will receive the same warning message. 10 You can view documents in any Mobile browser. You need to install the Office Mobile app to edit documents. Office Mobile is currently available for Windows phones and tablets, Android phones and tablets, iPhone, and iPad. 11 Help is available only in Simplified Chinese and English. 12 Comments on blogs cannot be added. 13 Organization community website is available, but public community-provided help is not available. 14 Access 2010 is not supported. 15 For Office Online, F1 users should have access to Office Online (live tiles) for content creation. However, they have limitations associated with the core commercial mobile apps. The following are included: Yammer, StaffHub, Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, SharePoint, and Groups. The following are not included: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.. 16 Sandboxed solutions cannot contain user code. They may only contain definition (.xml) files and resources that are processed by the server when they activate. 17 InfoPath Forms that contain user code (Sandbox) can only be consumed in InfoPath Rich Client. 18 Visio Online consumption (view capability) is available for free. Visio Online create and edit capabilities require a license. For more information about Visio Online, see the Visio Online Service Description. 19 F1 users can access SharePoint Server in a hybrid setup, but Office 365 F1 does not include CAL rights to access the server; these rights must be purchased separately. 20 Customer Key is available in Office 365 Enterprise E5. Customer Key enables you to control your organization's encryption keys and then configure Office 365 to use them to encrypt your data at rest in Microsoft's data centers. Data at rest includes data from Exchange Online and Skype for Business that is stored in mailboxes and files that are stored in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business. Customer Key helps you meet compliance obligations because you control the encryption keys that Office 365 uses to decrypt data. For more information, see Controlling your data in Office 365 using Customer Key. 21 Coming soon. |